An Arts Festival That Knows No Bounds
An international arts festival dedicated to performance, media and visual arts, Luminato Festival Toronto provides artistic programming that cuts across traditional art-form boundaries.
As a charitable, not-for-profit, globally-connected cultural organization proudly based in Toronto, we work closely with artists from all walks of life to support the development and creation of distinctive new work here at home and introduce Canadians to some of today’s most exciting international artists.
Luminato Shines a Light on Toronto
Founded in 2007 by David Pecaut and Tony Gagliano, Luminato Festival Toronto was created to rebuild the city after the SARS epidemic and shine a spotlight on Toronto as a culturally vibrant and globally-connected city rich in creativity.
In its first decade, Luminato became one of the preeminent international arts festivals in North America, with more than 3,600 performances featuring 15,000+ artists from over 40 countries.
As Luminato enters its second decade, its vision is to be a locally rooted, globally connected festival with a distinctly Toronto personality.
Luminato showcases Canadian artists to the world and through the presentation of outstanding international artists, connects those local voices with global conversations. The festival has also become one of Canada’s most active commissioning bodies, having commissioned close to 100 new works covering all art forms. People numbering into the millions have experienced an extraordinary array of events at the festival, featuring some of the most exciting artists from Canada and abroad.
Our Founders
David Pecaut
Co-Founder (1955–2009)
An accomplished civic leader and humanitarian, David worked tirelessly on initiatives designed to make our city and country a better place.
Tony Gagliano
Co-Founder, Chair Emeritus
Tony Gagliano presently serves as Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of St. Joseph Communications.
The Land
The land we gather on is the traditional territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Chippewa, the Anishinaabeg, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, the Wendat Confederacy, and many other Indigenous peoples, both known and unknown. This territory is subject to Treaty 13 and the Dish With One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant and is now home for many diverse First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples from across Turtle Island. Luminato acknowledges our responsibilities to these territorial agreements and to peaceably sharing and caring for the resources of this land while aspiring to embody the treaties through our actions, our relationship-building, and our programs. Luminato is grateful to have the opportunity to work with many diverse Indigenous nations on this territory and with other guests to this land.
Our Vision
An accomplished civic leader and humanitarian, Luminato co-founder David Pecaut had a clear and ambitious vision for the role Luminato would play in the hearts, minds, and creativity of Torontonians:
Luminato began as a dream that each year Toronto would invite the world to join us in celebrating creativity. A dream where the best artists in the world and the best artists in Canada fill the stage that is Toronto with new and wonderful creations. Today that dream has become the reality of a boisterous festival sprawling all over the city with music, theatre, dance, visual arts, literature, film and celebrations of all kinds.
Luminato is a hugely personal and collective enterprise. It is a shared spectacle. At its core Luminato is about the creativity in each one of us. Luminato is a time, a place and a set of experiences where each of us can reconnect with the creative in ourselves. The dream of Luminato is that each of us can discover and share our innate creativity. And in doing so, connect with one another as a community in the most powerful way we know.”
— David Pecault, June 2009
Our Values
By consistently upholding the below values, together we seek to build a positive, ambitious culture at Luminato that is professionally rewarding and personally enjoyable.
① Integrity
We encourage the fairness, trust, and transparency that are essential for rewarding interactions internally, within our communities, and with our artists and audiences.
② Collaboration
We embrace the diverse thoughts and voices of our communities and work together to create an open and safe environment.
③ Creativity
We empower and welcome the innovation that will shape our bold visions for the future.
④ Excellence
We embody an unwavering commitment to greatness across our programming, staff, and collaborators.
⑤ Respect
Above all, we respect each other.
Our Leadership Team
Celia Smith
CEO
Well known as an effective manager who’s mentored hundreds of people now working in leadership roles across the city, CEO Celia Smith has spent her entire career in the arts and culture sector in both the non-profit and private sectors. Smith has served as the General Manager of the Canadian Stage Company and Board Chair of the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts.
Naomi Campbell
Artistic Director
An award-winning producer, director, stage manager and curator, Naomi Campbell has over 30 years of experience working across all performing arts disciplines. Campbell has staged over 60 new Canadian performance pieces with companies including Nightswimming, Mammalian Diving Reflex (the international hit Haircuts by Children), DVxT Theatre, the late Paul Bettis’ Civilized Theatre, VideoCabaret, and numerous independent artists.